Systems for cutting sheet material, such as mat, sheet rock, cardboard, wood panel and the like, have been known for many years. Exemplary mat cutting systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 286,422; 2,835,037; 3,996,827; 3,463,041; 3,964,360; 3,967,519; 4,038,751; 4,867,023; and, 5,272,947. Exemplary large or construction sheet material (for example, 4.times.8 feet size) cutting systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,866,496; 4,058,150, 4,176,572; 4,802,399; and, 5,582,088.
The prior art mat cutting systems generally use a knife or blade. The cutting heads that hold these knives range from simple to complex. However, most of these heads are designed for a mat cutting operation and are not durable, easy to manufacture and easy to use in commercial graphic arts and construction type applications.
Construction type cutting systems are typified by the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,399 to Olson. This patent discloses an A-frame type support for holding a construction size work piece for cutting by a saw attachment on a carriage. The carriage is arranged for travel on a pair of rails and guide tubes to saw a cut through the work piece.
The inventors of the present invention are aware of a knife attachment, Utility Knife Attachment available from Saw Trax Mfg. of Acworth, Ga., for a construction type cutting system. This attachment merely uses an utility knife fastened to a sheet metal bracket. This attachment is not rigid and does not achieve the desired accuracy in use.